A Simple Extraction
by moviemaniac12
Summary: Everything seemed to easy, so simple. On a basic Extraction job, the infamous team realise that they must fight for their lives against another. Arthur/Ariadne, rated T for violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Please note that this is just a bit of fun. Reviews are much appreciated. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything. The wonderful Inception is owned by Christopher Nolan.**

"….Mr Cobb?"

Cobb looked up from his fingers, tapping on the wooden table. His eyes flickered across the busy room. The dreamscape. Ariadne had spent weeks designing his casino, down to the very last light on the very last slot machine. Tables of every variation stretched across the room, blackjacks, poker, everything. Eames had taken Ariadne on a little 'educational trip' to Vegas to study every casino she could in preperation for this job. What they did that weekend, he'll never know. All he was grateful for was the fact that Arthur had insisted on going with them. Nobody wanted Eames to corrupt a brilliant Architect's mind with drinks and gambling. But it paid off. Cobb was just as impressed with Ariadne's work as the day he hired her. Deep red walls stretched across the walls, perfectly matching the black carpet reaching from bar to entrance.

Stretching across the side of the casino he could see a familiar face, sitting on a bar stool, playing with a loaded die.

"…You were saying?"

Cobb looked back to the man. The man's bodyguards did not faze him, as he knew that despite this man's belief, they were only projections. Figments of a subconcious.

"Yes, Mr Johnson, as I was saying..." He found his voice again."A man in your position must have something to hide. I would like to help. I am willing to train you, so that when your thoughts are threatened, you can protect yourself."

The businessman sat still, thinking the fictious offer over. He looked down into his drink, and spoke without looking at Cobb.

"Mr Cobb, I understand that you are a very skilled Extractor, but I don't know whether I trust you enough to protect my dreams. I've heard about what you do. And if rumours are to be believed, then I don't trust you, or the people you work with."

He looked up at Cobb, who had a look of disbelief on his face. Cobb then tightened his jaw before clearing his throat. Improvisation was clearly needed at this point.

"I understand Mr Johnson," he said, a light smile on his face, as if this were nothing more than a rejected sales call. "But I highly suggest you consider my offer. After all, you said it yourself, I am a _very _skilled Extractor."

With that, he got his drink, and walked up to the bar. Taking his place on a free bar stool, he mulled over the thoughts in his head. He wasn't panicking, he never panicked. After all, they'd had situations like this before. They'd dealt with bigger things. But never the less, he always began to feel unnerved when things didn't go according to plan. The squeak of the stool next to him caught his attention, as the figure cleared his throat, Cobb immediately knew who it was. A man in a suit, hair slicked back just as is always was.

"How did it go?" Arthur asked.

"Not good. Apparently we aren't the ones to be trusted," he scoffed. He turned to look at Arthur, who now looked frustrated. Not surprising, considering he had spent a large amount of time doing research on the Mark, only now to be denied access. Arthur didn't take kindly to failure.

"Damn it," he cursed quietly. "Where the hell do you think he gets this from?"

"Doesn't matter," Cobb brushed off the subject. "I'm going to get to the safe sooner rather than later. Keep an eye on them for me."

With that, he walked away. Arthur watched as he swiftly moved through the crowds of projections, towards the exit. Taking his eyes off the Extractor's back, he turned and looked down into his glass, unsatisfied. No doubt the Mark was suspicious, and by now the subconcious would be conjuring up some agressive projections. Not that he wasn't prepared, he just had hoped that this job would have been a bit more easy-going. He really didn't take to the idea of being shot in the head.

A hand on his shoulder jolted him slightly. "Trying to burn holes in that glass?"

Arthur sighed. Eames was not the person he wanted to talk to right now.

"No, we have a problem. Johnson is unwilling to open up to Cobb."

Eames took a sip of the amber liquid in his glass and swallowed. "Ah, don't worry about it, mate. We'll get the information we need. Patience is a virtue."

Eames stood up and patted Arthur on the back, with unnecessary force. Patience was not one of Arthur's strong points.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some gambling to do," the older man said, moving away from the bar.

Arthur narrowed his eyes at the Forger. "We're in a dream, Eames. Any money you cheat here is irrelevent."

"You misunderstand, Arthur-boy. It's not the winning that thrills people." Eames grinned widely. "It's the game."

Arthur gave him a small smirk. "Well then, good luck."

As the Forger walked away, Arthur turned. "Where's Yusuf and Ariadne?"

"No clue. Yusuf's no doubt enjoying the glorious world of faux casinos. Ariadne's probably lost as a ball in high weeds." He then walked away towards the poker table. Arthur felt slightly **queasy**. He always felt uneasy when things didn't go to plan. Watching the Mark, he saw his disappointing loss at the **fictitious **blackjack table, where he stormed away in agression. Arthur eyed him closely as he walked through the path of various slot machines and playing tables, probably trying to find a good place for his next game. To Arthur's sudden dismay, with a sudden turn he walked towards the emergency exit.

"What's he doing?" Arthur whispered to himself. Johnson and his bodyguards walked out the door. The same door that Cobb had walked out of.

Quickly in action, he left his drink on the table and rushed from his seat and quickly started weaving his way in and out of dressed-up projections. Trying to avoid direct physical contact with them, he made his way though the rows of machines, tables and other various gambling areas, which were all far too crowded for his **convenience. **His eyes swayed to every corner of the room, every door, every figure until he spotted the familiar petite brunette he was looking for. Running forward, he brushed the shoulders of several projections who shot him cold looks. When he reached her, he placed a light hand on her arm.

"Ariadne," he breathed.

Ariadne turned, and seemed relieved as soon as she saw the Point Man. But as soon as she saw the frustrated look in his eyes and automatically knew something was wrong, her expression grew grim.

"What is it?"

"Johnson just walked out. Cobb's up there," he explained as quickly as he could manage.

Panic flashed across her eyes. "Why would he leave this room?"

"He doesn't have a reason to." Arthur's jaw tightened. "Unless he knows."

"Will Cobb have time to find the safe?" she asked, her voice slightly higher than usual.

"…I don't know. Let's hope so." He reached forward and placed an assuring arm on her shoulder. "I'm going to find Cobb, I need you to look for Eames and Yusuf. If the projections start converging, find us upstairs."

Barely staying to hear her response, he practically sprinted towards the exit, praying that he wouldn't find too much trouble. As he pushed open the door, instead of an expected exit into a street or a backalley, it led into an regal staircase, palettes of dark purples and golds. Ariadne and him had designed his dreamscape together so that the casino would led straight onto a hotel staircase. An elegant diversion so that they could make a quick transfer. Arthur thought it was pure genius. Running up the stairs at full pace, he made his way into a hallway filled with numbered doors. Eames had made it so that the safe was located in room number 528. Nobody else appreciated the joke.

Finally locating the gold-plated numbers, he pulled out his gun from behind his waistband and pulled back the safety. Drawing a breath, he kicked open the door and stiffened.

The Mark, Johnson, had a gun pointed towards Cobb, who was clearly in the process of mid-opening the safe.

"I know we're dreaming, Mr Cobb," he muttered under his breath.

Arthur locked eyes with the Extractor before swinging his arm around and firing a shot, successfully taking down guard number one. Arthur was quick and a good aim, so he easily fired a second bullet into guard number two's skull before he even had a chance to take out his weapon. The sound of two bodies hitting the floor echoed through the room. He quickly took his aim at Johnson, locking eyes with Cobb. However, Cobb shook his head, so Arthur let his arm fall in defeat.

Johnson looked Arthur in the eyes, obviously trying to give him some sort of intimidation. Arthur, however, was unaffected. It took a lot more to make the Point Man feel uncomfortable.

"Wonderful aim, Arthur," he said, wearing a discusting fake smile. Arthur's eyes flickered back to the Extractor's momentarily. "Unfortunately I will not be requiring your services."

"Mr Johnson…" said Cobb. "I hate to spoil your fun, but it seems you don't really have a choice here. You're out numbered from 1-5. You have no choice but to give us the information we need," he said, wearing a small smile.

Johnson simply chuckled and let his arm fall. "How wrong you are, Mr Cobb. You see, I'm not outnumbered at all."

At that moment, the door room swung open, sending a sickening bang throughout the room. Arthur swung round instantly and readied his aim towards whoever the intruder may be. But instead of any basic projection, three familiar figures landed on the floor with a thump. Arthur looked down and saw his teammates on the ground, in a rush of panic and confusion. Eames rose from the floor and brushed off his suit shoulder, before offering his hand to the tiny Architect.

Arthur then turned his attention to the figures standing above them. There were three, each one equipped with a gun of their choice. The first was tall, a stance that any body builder would envy. The second was shorter, but still could easily beat the average Joe in a fight, whilst the third could only be described as weedy in comparison. Then a fourth walked in. Black hair and bright blue eyes. An air of confidence (far too much, Arthur noted), and long strides that quickly brought him into the room and past Arthur.

Looking to Cobb for support, Arthur was unsure whether to shoot, stand or run. No response from Cobb confirmed that he was just as confused as him.

Then, a quick movement sent everything bounding out of control. The black haired man lifted his arm and aimed it at Johnson, who stood calmly in place.

Seeing events unfold, Cobb reached forward. "No!"

As the shot rang out an all too familiar sound, and soon, Johnson's body hit the floor, his blood now staining the perfectly clean, cream carpet. For a moment, everything was silent. Cobb turned to the black haired man, furious.

"What the hell is going on?" he spat, pointing to the body. "You just woke up our Mark!"

The intruder laughed, a deep, haunting laugh, sending shivers up the spines of both Arthur and Cobb.

"That's where you're wrong, Mr Cobb," he spoke, in an almost mocking tone. "Everything went perfectly to plan."


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INCEPTION.**

* * *

Cobb's furious expression did not lighten. "Who the hell are you?"

"Introductions are not necessary right now," the man said, brushing off the subject as if it were no more than small talk. "What matters now, is that you drop whatever job you may have on Mr Johnson."

"And why would we do that?" Cobb asked through gritted teeth.

"Because that way, we might let you out alive." The man pointed above his head. "Up top? We've got two men, currently-" He looked at his watch. "-Moving your Mark from his predicament." "They are both just _waiting_ for a chance to shed some blood. All I need to do, is wake someone up."

Memories of planning the job flooded back into Arthur's mind. He'd insisted that someone stay up top to observe and _protect_ the sleepers. But with Eames as the dreamer and Cobb supposedly busy with the safe, that had only left the remaining three to guard the sleepers. Since Arthur was always needed in the dream (be it dropping without gravity or providing emergency kicks), that had left Ariadne and Yusuf. But as brilliantly minded as they were, neither was strong enough to hold up a good fight if necessary. Cobb assured him that this was a basic extraction and the chances of something going wrong were highly unlikely. Turns out, he was very wrong.

"Then how are _you _here?" Yusuf asked, his normally quiet voice laced with curiosity. "I'm certain that you're not projections."

The black haired man smirked. "That's the best part. The new and improved PASIV device. Allows for linked dream-sharing based on sub-concious reniments of Marks." He quirked an eyebrow. "Surely you, an advanced Chemist, would know this?"

Nobody could miss the sudden paleness in Yusuf's face. "But...I thought...I thought that was a myth! Nothing short of a fantasy among Extractors!"

"No, it's very much real."

Arthur swallowed, keeping his grip tight on his gun, his knuckles turning white. "What does it matter to you whether we drop the extraction or not?"

One of the other men made a small sound at the back of their throat. "Did you think you were the only team that's completed a successful inception?" This man looked young, young and eager. There was something about him that made Arthur very bitter.

"Mr Cobb, surely you can understand how hard it is to get jobs when you're in competition with the best?" he said, offering a sickly smile. "We are simply eliminating the competition."

"We didn't realise there were teams that knew about us." Eames said. "Surely we can share?" he asked, in a more joking manner.

"It's not about sharing, Mr Eames." The man replied, more fiercely than his previous tone.

"Hang on, how did you know where to find us?" Arthur asked.

"We have our ways. Cell phone tracking, laptop bugs, flight data..." He grinned. "Elementary things, really."

Cobb's eyes moved across the room. "Alright, well, you've done what you came to do. You've successfully failed our job for us." His expression turned grim. "My team and I are going to wake up now."

A thunderous roar errupted from downstairs. Projections.

"I don't think so, Mr Cobb. You see, we need to be sure that we're not going to hear from you again..."

The tension in the room thickened. Arthur's grip tightened on his gun. "We're not planning on staying for the projections. They're already on their way." His voice held strength, despite his nerves. He hated projections. They were relentless in the pain they gave you, and often, you still felt sore limbs from even after when you've woken up.

"What makes you think we're going to let you leave?" the man's thick voice muttered.

Arthur locked eyes with Cobb for a moment, communicating silently. Cobb gave him a silent nod. As quickly as he could, Arthur swung his arm around and fired.

The response was quick, and soon, glass shattered around them as bullets rang out through the room. Table orniments and mirrors shattered as guns fired. Arthur saw Eames and Cobb quickly retrieve their guns and began firing. The other team was skilled, but they were better. Soon, one by one the figures started dropping down on the ground, until it was two against five. Arthur saw it as their golden chance as the doorway was now free. He knew that projections would be coming soon. It was now or never.

"Everybody get to the roof! Now!" Arthur yelled over the** debree.**

One by one, the team began to disappear out of the door, leaving Arthur to deal with the remaining two. He yelped out in pain as a bullet skimmed the side of his cheek, leaving a trickle of blood to run down his face. In anger, he aimed and shot at the shoulder of the smaller man, effectively making him fall back into the wall. Arthur was ready to take his aim at the other, before feeling a yank on his sleeve.

"Arthur, come on!" He heard Eames yell into his ear.

"I can take them!" Arthur replied, his shots becoming sloppy and off-aim.

"The projections are on their bloody way, come on!" Eames suddenly cried out in pain as his hand shot up to his shoulder. He looked into his hand to see it was covered in warm blood. Arthur looked at his hand, and then looked to Eames.

"...Ok, let's go."

The two men pushed themselves from the room and into the hallway. The thunderous roar from downstairs was gradually becoming louder, and they knew that they only had a certain amount of time before they would be getting torn apart by projections. Throwing themselves up the stairs, they found themselves getting closer and closer to the exit.

Reaching the rooftop exit, they swung the door open and ran to the edge of the roof. They'd originally planned a much more smooth kick, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Arthur felt Eames roughly push Arthur's shoulders, throwing him off the side of the building. It was painful. Much more painful than Arthur expected. As the freezing air whipped and thrashed around his skin and clothing, Arthur remembered the gravity pulling him closer and closer to the ground before everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INCEPTION.**

One by one, the eyes of the team opened in a flurry of rush and panic. Cobb, practically ripping the needle from his arm ran towards the door. Arthur's skin still felt a burning chill as he sat up and pulled the needle from his skin.

"Damn it!" Cobb cursed, slamming his fist against the door. "They took our Mark!"

"That was certainly unexpected," Eames muttered.

Cobb turned around and caught the Point Man's eyes with a harsh glare. He walked over (more stomping than walking), and stood directly in front of him, a scene that the others found familiar. "Arthur, where is your head?" he spat. "You could have got yourself, or Eames killed!"

Arthur blinked. "I was only trying to protect the team."

"And who were those guys? It's your job to find out the amount of subconcious security." His eyes narrowed. "Looks like you've failed again."

Arthur's fists clenched by his sides, his knuckles turning white. "That _obviously_ wasn't subconcious security. It's not my fault you were unprepared."

"If you two ladies don't mind, I have something to say."

Cobb and Arthur swung round to look at Eames, who was standing by the PASIV, his arms crossed.

"Obviously we have a major issue on our hands. Standing here and arguing about who's fault it was isn't going to fix anything. We've lost our Mark, failed our job." His expression turned grim. "Our biggest problem now is figuring out how to avoid our unhappy **employer. **In the mean time, turning on each other isn't going to be of any use."

Cobb sighed. "He's right. Arthur, I'm sorry."

Arthur looked at him in sympathy. "No, you were right. I should have paid more attention to the research." He turned to Eames. " Eames, I'm sorry about your shoulder."

"I always knew you were going to get a bullet in me eventually." Eames teased, to which Arthur rolled his eyes.

Cobb turned to Yusuf, who was packing away the PASIV. His mind was clearly on something else, as his normally quick and **efficient** pace was slow and steady. His eyes were off into the distance.

"Yusuf, when that guy said something about...the PASIV. You said you didn't believe it..." he echoed. "What didn't you believe."

Yusuf turned and absent-mindedly tapped his foot, his expression frustrated. "It's rather unusual. I heard a while ago that there was a new form of PASIV that could take the subconcious of one person, and place it in the dreamscape of another...all on a different machine."

Ariadne's nose wrinkled in confusion. "But...he said something about the Mark's subconcious."

"That's what connects it. You've seen what happens when the dreamer becomes aware that he's dreaming- the subconcious takes hold. In our case, Johnson knew that we were going to Extract from him, therefore, he hired those people to protect his thoughts." Yusuf paced the room as his mind took hold. Cobb watched him in fascination.

"The Mark," he continued. "Once aware of the Extraction, has the upper hand. All he had to do was hook himself up on this 'New PASIV' and then the other team has a setting. All they had to do was go under when we were under, and the Mark's subconcious was the dreamscape, no matter what the setting."

"That's impossible," Arthur stated. "You **have** to be using the same PASIV to be in the same dreamscape."

Yusuf shook his head. "Not if you have a sample of the Mark's subconcious in the PASIV."

Eames blinked. "Mate, I did not understand a word you just said."

Yusuf sighed. "Eames, I'll put it simply so your naive little mind can understand. If the Mark goes under on the new PASIV, the next time the other team goes under, his subconcious is where they'll be. Regardless of whether he's hooked up as well."

"Pardon my French, but that's bullshit," Eames said. "That type of technology doesn't even exist!"

"But it does! And they have it!" Yusuf retorted. "That gives them a heads up on any other Extractors that don't have it!"

"Then we need to get it," Cobb said bluntly. "Yusuf, is there anyway you could get us one of those?"

Yusuf let out a small stutter before shrugging. "Cobb, I didn't even know they actually existed. I wouldn't even begin to know where to look for one."

"Well we have to try," Arthur said, walking swiftly toward one of the desks they'd set up. "In the meantime, we have to move. We have twenty-four hours, tops, before - Incorporated tries to find us."

"Where are we going to go?" Ariadne asked, slightly fazed by the whole situation.

"I'll sort that out, in the meantime, start packing the stuff away," Arthur instructed.

Cobb turned and walked towards the backroom without saying a word. Eames let out a low whistle.

"Geez, who rattled his cage?" he asked.

Arthur shot Eames a cold stare. "I think you know why, Eames. Just find a way to make yourself useful."

"Well, it's nice to know that I can help." He turned to Ariadne and gave her a reassuring smile before walking out, Yusuf in tow. Leaving her alone in the warehouse with Arthur. She looked around and saw that he was rumaging through papers on his desk, a **determaned** look on his face.

"Arthur?"

He swung round on his chair to look at her. He had dark circles under his eyes. Often the trademark of a point man. Especially one like Arthur who spent all his time working. Only recently had his tiredness become more noticable.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly.

After a moment, he ran his hand over his face and sighed. "Yeah, I guess. I just feel like I've let Cobb down...again."

"You're too hard on yourself."

"I just feel like I'm failing miserably at something I used to be so good at," he mumbled, clearly dejected. "Maybe I'm losing my touch."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Arthur, you know that's not true. So you made a mistake, big deal. But we're here, and we're alive- all because you are so intent on protecting the team. You know that Cobb appreciated that more than anything else."

He smiled at her. A small gesture, but a smile none the less. "Thanks, Ari."

"Anytime."


	4. Chapter 4

Cobb walked into the warehouse that morning feeling un-optimistic about that day. He was the first one in, or so he thought.

"Morning Cobb." said a tired voice. Cobb turned around to see Arthur.

"Geez, Arthur have you been here all night?" he asked. Arthur let out a small laugh.

"Yeah. I guess I have, but I got everything we need." He held up a stack of papers. Cobb appreciated it sure, but he felt bad that Arthur stayed here all night. He looked exhausted. His eyes were dark, his suit was creased and his hair was a mess.

"Well…thanks." He gave him an appreciating smile. Arthur looked pleased with himself.

"Well, well, someone looks rather dashing." The smile was wiped off Arthur's face. Eames walked over and put his arm around him. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Shut up Eames." said Arthur as he shrugged off his arm. "…and don't touch me."

Eames backed off. "Alright, alright." He turned around when he heard the door at the front of the warehouse open and close. In walked, Ariadne, who also looked like she got less sleep. Arthur quickly started running his hands through his hair and straightening his tie to make himself look presentable.

"Well, you don't make yourself look good for me." Eames said. Arthur shot him a look before shoving his arm.

"So, anyway, when Ysuef gets here, I'll tell you what I know." Cobb looked at him and smiled.

It took half an hour for Ysuef to arrive. When he did, he ran through the door, holding a big suitcase and a box, looked rather red and flushed. Eames swung round and laughed.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to show." Cobb looked at Ysuef, who looked apologetic.

"Sorry for being late, but I think you'll be pleased. I spent all night on the phone with a friend of mine. I also made several different concoctions and came up with some new chemicals we could use." He turned around to face everyone. "I also got the PASIV." Arthur looked up, as did Ariadne.

"What?" Cobb said in disbelief. Ysuef had a big grin on his face.

"Yep, I got is the same model that the other team was using. Now we can go into their dreams. Also, I'm trying to find a steadier sedative so that they will find it harder to come into ours." Cobb grabbed Yseuf's shoulders and gave him a big smile.

"Ysuef, you are a genius!"

"Well, I don't know about that, but yes, I guess I am!" Ysuef said.

"Well…" Eames said. "I guess we've got more going for us now." Cobb turned around.

"Yes, we really do. Now, Arthur, show us what you've got." Arthur motioned for everyone to sit down and cleared his throat. "Ok, well, they have 5 people on their team. The first is the Extractor. Phillips. He's been doing this for years. He's performed 3 Inceptions and countless extractions. The second is their point man. Smith. He's worked with Phillips for 8 years. This guy knows what he's doing. He has friends in practically every bank in the country. He can get information on anyone within a matter of hours." He looked at Cobb.

"Good thing you can too." Cobb gave him a smile. Arthur smiled back.

"The Architect is a guy called T.J Andrews. He hasn't been working for very long, and is still learning. He is very familiar with paradoxical architecture though, so anything he designs is tricky to work around. The Forger is a guy called Red. He is… incredibly skilled. He can take on the form of anyone in seconds. Also, he's trained in hand combat. This is the guy to watch out for. I think we should be very careful not to leave each other from now on. He could take on the form of anyone of us."

Arthur became quiet. "He could be here now." Everyone looked at each other. Eames broke the silence.

"Yes, but what's his giveaway?"

Everyone looked at him.

"What?" Ariadne asked. Eames looked shocked that they didn't know what he was talking about.

"His giveaway?" He asked again. He sighed as he realised this was going no-where. " Every Forger has a giveaway. Something that they cannot get right. Something that shows that it's not the person you think it is. You can only spot it, once you know what it is."

Ariadne spoke. " So, if every forger has one, then what's yours?"

"Well I can't bloody well tell you can I? Then you would see how obvious it is."

Arthur gave a small laugh. "Well, I heard that Red has an issue with eyes. So I guess, just check when you're talking to someone." Everyone nodded. "Now, the Chemist. I couldn't find the name, but this guy is based in Russia. He has connections with drug dealers and such, so he has the resources to make a lot."

Cobb stood up. "Thanks Arthur. You guys did a great job. I think now, we can start to work again. Let's do it normally, if we get a job, we do it, and we do it well." Eames stood up.

"Well that's good because we have a job. A simple extraction. Are we up for it?"

Cobb nodded. "Yes, we are. Let's get to work."


	5. Chapter 5

Arthur looked around him. The bar was filled with projections. The loud music filled the air, and he looked over his shoulder to see Eames and Cobb in a booth in the corner, keeping as inconspicuous as possible.

"Arthur?"

He looked to the other side, and saw Ariadne with her head in her hands, breathing heavily. He put his hand on her back.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm finding it hard to breath."

"Don't be nervous, we've done this lots of times."

"No Arthur, I'm not. I really can't breath." She cradled herself with her arms. Arthur looked over at Cobb, who was watching them with a concerned look on his face. Arthur turned his attention back to Ariadne, who was now taking short raspy breaths.

"Ariadne, do-" He was stopped by Ariadne screaming. Her face contorted in pain and her voice started to break from the volume of her voice. She fell onto the floor in agony. Within a second, Cobb and Eames were by Arthur's side.

"What the hell's going on with her?" Arthur yelled in Cobb's face.

"How am I supposed to know? Eames, shot her!" Cobb barely had time to finish his sentence before Eames had his gun pointed to Ariande's head. When he pulled the trigger, Arthur turned away. He didn't want to see the aftermath. He then held it own gun up to his head and raised his finger. Just then, Eames snatched him arm away.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked. "We have a job to finish." Arthur turned towards him.

"Do you really think that's more important? Aren't you worried about Ariadne?"

"Of course I am, but I think after last time, we need to continue. We have a reputation to uphold." Arthur looked at Cobb.

"He's right Arthur. Let's just do this as quickly as possible."


	6. Chapter 6

Ariadne woke up and snapped her head round. Her hands reached down to her stomach before crying out for Ysuef. He was only a few feet away, but it seemed to take him a while to get to her. He grabbed her hand and looked at her.

"Bloody hell, are you alright?" She didn't respond for a while. She went rather quiet.

"I'm fine now…but…it was painful."

"What do you mean?"

"I couldn't breath, my head hurt, then I felt this…feeling…rush through me…like acid."

Ysuef looked over at the jars of chemicals on his desk.

"I'm very sorry Ariadne. That was the new compound I was using. We wanted to test it out, I guess the combination was too strong. I'm so sorry." He looked genuinely guilty. Ariadne wasn't mad. She was relieved.

"It's fine. I'm just glad it's over. Now we know right?" She gave him a small smile. He returned it to her and gave her hand a squeeze, before walking to the PASIV to check the timer.

"They'll be out soon. Then I'll have hell to pay."

Ariadne looked down to see the needle was still attached. She gently pulled it out, wincing slightly. Then a loud crash woke her up. She flicked her head up to see Cobb, Arthur and Eames waking up. Arthur was jumping out of the sun lounger. Before she could blink, he was by her side.

"Ariadne, are you ok?" he asked, reaching for her back, just as he had done in the dream. She gave him a comforting smile.

"Yes, I'm fine. Sorry."

"For god sakes Ariadne, don't be sorry." He helped her up and they walked over to the others. Cobb was talking to Ysuef.

"Ysuef, you have to be more careful with the compounds. We don't want anyone dying on us."

"I know. I'm sorry. How did it go?" Eames was sitting on an office chair when Ariadne saw him.

"It went perfectly. No intruders. I'll have the information sent over tomorrow." he said.

"Thanks Eames." Cobb looked over to Ariadne. "You ok?" Ariadne nodded.

Cobb started walking to his office. "Nobody goes home tonight." Everyone looked at him, slightly outraged.

"What?" Arthur asked.

Cobb turned around to see his team's angry faces.

"What do you mean 'what'? Guys, we have a team chasing us with a very skilled forger. If I let any of you go, it will be like realising a sheep to a pack of lions. No-one leaves, understand?" He waited to receive some frustrated nods from his team. With that, he continued walking to his office. The rest did the same. All except Arthur and Eames. Arthur broke the silence.

"Great. Now I'm stuck with you for god-knows-how-long."

"Oh thank you darling. You know how much I appreciate our time together." With that, Arthur groaned and walked out the room, leaving Eames chuckling by himself.


	7. Chapter 7

_A new job. A new dream. _Arthur thought. _Get your head in the game. No-one's coming._ He could not escape the idea that the other team was coming to get them. He'd felt like this ever since the first time they had met them. That constant fear was eating away at the back of his head. _Just find Cobb and get this over with. _He turned around on his chair, looking for the Extractor. He spotted him, walking around, probably looking for Ariadne. _Where's the safe?_ Arthur thought to himself. Just as he was about to get up, Eames came over and pushed down his shoulder.

"Want to buy me a drink?"

"No."

"Oh come on darling, have some fun. We're in a bar."

"We're in a dream in case you don't remember. Just shut up." Eames raised his arms in a defensive motion and said nothing more. Finally he saw Cobb walk out of the room, going to find the safe.

"So…" Eames said, trying to break the quietness. "…why are you here?"

Arthur looked at him, he burrowed his eyebrows.

"What the hell kind of a question is that? We're doing a job, that's why I'm here."

"No, I mean. Why did you start doing this. Point man and all that?"

Arthur was taken aback. He had never been asked personal questions like that before. He didn't necessarily like it.

"I don't know. It's better than spending all your life in reality I guess. I mean, you just get bored after a while. Everyone yearns to do something amazing."

Eames just nodded and took a sip of his drink.

"Arthur, are we friends?" he gave a big grin. Arthur didn't even look up.

"That is a stupid question. No. Eames, you are not my friend."

"Do you like Ariadne?"

"Eames, can we be quiet now?"

"Just answer the bloody question."

"No, I don't." Arthur looked over his shoulder. It was quiet. Eames did the same. There were no projections. Anywhere.

"What the hell?" Arthur asked. Suddenly, he swung round to Eames. "Find Ariadne." Just as he got up from his chair, the front door swung open. In walked the opposing team. Arthur froze. Eames raised his gun, prompting Arthur to do the same. They did not look as friendly as they did the first time they met.

Suddenly, Ariadne was by Arthur's side. So was Cobb, holding a brown envelope.

Phillips laughed a deep laugh. "Well done. You got here before we did. Look, there's no point in fighting us, so just give me the information." Nobody moved. Phillips motioned for his team to move closer. "I guess we're going to have to do this the hard way. " He leaned towards one of the tables and grabbed a knife. "Who's first?" he smirked.

"You're not getting the information. There's no point in trying to kill us. We'd just wake up." Cobb said with a straight face.

"Ah, you see Mr Cobb…I'm not trying to _kill _you." As soon as he finished his sentence, their Point Man, Smith, leaped over and grabbed Arthur's arm. As a automatic defence, Arthur's fist connected with Smith's nose. Eames swung his gun up and his bullet hit Phillip's shoulder. He didn't even cry out as he looked down to the blood surrounding his shirt. He looked up at Eames, who automatically regretted doing that. Phillip's eyes were now cold and angry as he lunged at Eames with the knife. Eames didn't have time to move, and within a couple of seconds a shiny, blunt object was thrust into his side. Eames yelled out in pain and collapsed onto the floor, the knife still in his side, reddening his shirt. He reached down to pull it out, but another hand was there. Suddenly, the knife twisted in his stomach, causing him to scream. His hand ripped out the knife only to cause more pain. He felt his stomach and covered his hand in warm thick blood. He looked up to see Cobb with a gun towards his head.

"Eames, I'm sorry."

He raised his finger to pull the trigger, but his arm was smacked away by Red, the Forger. He shook his head towards Cobb then lowered his gun and shot it at Eames's kneecap. Eames was covered in his blood, screaming and twisting begging for someone to shoot him.

Arthur looked over at Ariadne who was shaking and staring at Eames. Arthur knew that he had to get everyone out while they still had the information. He turned to her and whispered "I'm sorry." He raised his gun and shot into Ariadne's head. Then he swung around and shot Eames in a quick, clean motion.

He looked at Cobb who was aiming and shooting, missing every time. He ran to him and aimed his gun towards Cobb's temple. Soon, it was just him. Him and 4 other men. He was outnumbered.


	8. Chapter 8

Cobb woke up and jumped out of his seat. He looked over to see Eames waking up. He was calm. Much calmer than anyone else, which he shouldn't be after that painful torture session. Ariadne was already up, talking to Eames, asking if he was ok, looking him up and down for any sign of injury. Then he looked over to Arthur. His body was almost lifeless. Still in deep sleep. He turned to Eames and Ariadne.

"What the hell is he doing?" Just then he ran over to the PASIV and looked at the timer. 3:00. _That's too long. He needs a kick._

"Kick!" he yelled. He grabbed Arthur's chair and pushed it over. Just before his body hit the ground, Arthur's eyes opened and his arms reached out to stop himself.

"Jesus, Arthur are you ok?" He looked down at himself, straightening his suit. He looked up at Cobb with a relieved face.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Thanks."

"No, thank you." Arthur looked up to see Eames walking over. "That was bloody awful. Cheers." Arthur gave him a nod. He didn't like to express his emotions too much.

"That went better than I thought." Cobb said. "We got the information." After that, everyone went to their offices. It was an awkward mood with no-one being allowed to go home. There was nothing to do in between jobs, and the only entertainment was Eames irritating Arthur. Which was funny, Cobb thought. Very funny.

Ariadne sat in her office, sketching. She was all by herself for a while until Arthur walked in.

"Ariadne, I don't think you should do this anymore." She looked up. Arthur grabbed a seat and sat down next to her. She gave him a confused look,

"I'm sorry?" He sighed and moved closer to her.

"Look, you're a great architect. I just don't think you can handle dream sharing anymore. I mean, you're really young." Ariadne gave a small laugh.

"I'm sorry? I'm too young? I've helped you complete Inception!"

"I know. It's just…I'm worried about the team. I mean, you're kind of a distraction."

"Arthur were is this coming from?"

"I just…I think it's better if you're not around. You're a waste of space." Ariadne stood up. She grabbed her bag and walked out the room. Before she walked out the door, she swung round and looked at Arthur.

"I bet that's not what you thought when you kissed me." Arthur said nothing. She walked out of the warehouse, ignoring Yusuf's questioning. On her way out of the front, she bumped into Eames.

"Hey, were are you off to sweetheart?"

"Arthur is an asshole." She strode past him, out of the warehouse and into the street. She wanted to go home. She'd had enough of spending her time with a bunch of people who don't appreciate her. She wanted to talk to Arthur after the Inception, waiting for contact for months. As soon as she was asked to work with them again, she agreed without hesitation. Now, she'd wasted her time. It was obvious Arthur didn't care as much as she did. Warm, damp tears sung her eyes, and she walked into the dark, not planning to come back.


	9. Chapter 9

"Bloody hell, what's her problem?" Yusuf asked Eames.

"Not sure, but I think it was the work of our dear point man. Oh, speak of the devil." Yusuf looked up to see Arthur walking into the room, acting as if nothing would happen. Eames walked over to him as he was sitting down.

"Well, what happened there?" he asked with a smile on his face. Arthur didn't look up from his notes.

"I was just talking to her."

"About?"

"I just said to her that I don't think she should be on the team anymore." he looked up at Eames. The smile was wiped of his face as he looked to Yusuf, who was also looking at Arthur with confusion.

"What? Why would you say that?" Arthur shrugged.

"It's true."

"No it's not. She's just walked out in tears." Cobb walked in.

"What's going on?" he asked with a straight face.

"Well Ariadne's just stormed out in tears because Arthur told her to leave the team." Cobb's eyes froze on Arthur.

"What? Why would you say that?" Arthur sighed and stood up.

"It's true. She was nothing but a distraction." It all kicked off from there. Cobb started screaming in Arthur's face about how she was a necessity and that no-one was allowed to leave the building. Eames was sitting in a broken down office chair when he realised something. He stood up quickly and walked over to Arthur, grabbing his shoulders. He looked straight into Arthur's eyes, who just looked back. Arthur laughed a deep growl.

"Bastard." Eames said, before connecting his knuckles straight into Arthur's jaw. Arthur landed straight on the ground before turning over and smiling.

"Hold him down!" Eames said. Cobb knew what was happening, and strapped Arthur down to a chair, whilst looking at his eyes, just to make sure. They were a sharp blue, not a dark brown.

"Great, now Ariadne is gone, they might be looking for her." He turned sharply to the forger tied to the chair. "Where is Arthur." It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

"He's waiting for you. In 2 hours, he won't be there anymore. " Cobb lowered his face towards him.

"What do you mean?" His voice was dark. Eames actually didn't like the sound of it.

"You show up with the PASIV device in 2 hours, or your friend goes into limbo. Oh, I'm sorry…friends." Cobb punched his nose, which made a crack that made Eames shiver.

"God damn it!" Cobb motioned for Eames and Yusuf to come over. "We need to go. We are not leaving them there."

"Yes, but we can't give them the PASIV. It's too valuable. We also can't leave him here alone." Yusuf said, pointing to the intimidating Arthur. Cobb sighed.

"I know. That's why we're leaving you to watch him."

"Bloody hell." Yusuf sighed, shaking his head. Cobb grabbed his shoulder. He looked up at him with a desperate face.

"Please Yusuf. Do it for Arthur and Ariadne."

"…Ok." Cobb turned to Eames. "Let's go. Grab the PASIV." He turned to 'Arthur' and looked into his blue eyes. "If you're lying, I will come back and kill you. Where do we go?"

Soon, Cobb and Arthur were on the road headed to somewhere with directions written down on a piece of paper. Hopefully, there would not be too late.


	10. Chapter 10

Arthur woke tied to a chair, his head hurting after they hit it with something. The room contained 2 chairs, a light and a door with no window. Why did he let himself get caught? He should have shot himself while he got the chance. No-one had come to talk to him. Why were they waiting. They were only going to torture him again. He looked down at his arm and stared at the cigarette burns and knife marks. They wanted to know where the warehouse was so they could get the information they got from the mark earlier. He wasn't worried about that, he had been in a situation like this many times. He was worried about the others, the forger would take his shape. He only hoped that they could figure it out. He thought of all the things his doppelganger would be doing. Talking to Cobb, Eames, Yusuf…Ariadne.

Arthur twisted his hands behind him, in hopes of loosening the rope holding him down, but gave up when it burnt his skin. He cursed to himself whilst trying to loosen the material covering his mouth. He gave up when he heard footsteps approaching.

_I'm ready. Bring it on you bastards._ The person he saw when the door opened was much worse than torture. He saw Ariadne gagged and tied being dragged along by a man 2 times her size.

"Evening Arthur." Phillips said as he walked through the door. "Are you ready to talk yet?" Arthur didn't take his eyes off Ariadne. "As you can see, since you're not saying anything, we've found someone who might co-operate." She looked into his eyes, apologetic almost. He couldn't understand why.

"You have half an hour. Then, if your team isn't here, you're going to limbo." Arthur saw Ariadne twitch. She sure as hell didn't want to go back there, and he didn't want to go there with her. The man pushed her into the chair, and tied her to it. After they left the room, it was silent. Arthur spent about 3 minutes getting his mouth free. He turned to Ariadne, looking to her eyes for some sort of comfort. His face was as straight as it had always had been.

"Ariadne." He didn't know what to say. He moved his hand over to hers, and even though it burnt his skin, he grabbed her whole hand and squeezed it.

"How did they find you?"

Ariadne managed to get her mouth free and squeezed his hand back before answering.

"I left the warehouse, probably wasn't the best idea."

"Why?" She looked over to him, teary.

"I thought it was you. You told me that I shouldn't be there anymore. You said I was…a waste of space. I was just…so sure it was you." Arthur squeezed her hand tighter.

"I would never think that about you. Ariadne…you're part of the reason I even come to work in the morning."

"Thanks. " Arthur watched her for about 5 minutes. He really cared for her, he found her interesting, smart and beautiful. He had never had a problem with women. He'd been with many, had serious relationships with women he did love. But he would drop everything for Ariadne. He leaned his head over to hers and pressed his nose against her temple. He could feel her jaw tightening, probably out of shock, but he continued.

"We will get out of this. I promise you." he whispered into her face.

"Arthur, I won't say anything. About the warehouse or anything."

"Ariadne-"

Just then, as if on cue, Phillips and his point man Smith, walked through the door. Arthur quickly raised his head and glared into his eye._ Leave Ariadne. Go for me._

"Times up. Are you going to talk?" No-one spoke. Phillips sighed. "Fine." He pulled his cigarette out of his mouth and twisted it into Arthur's arm. Arthur hissed between his teeth, he could not show pain, otherwise they would win. Ariadne looked at him in horror. Phillips then turned to her. His cold eyes smiled as he reached for her arm.

"No!" Arthur yelled. Phillips ignored him. The cigarette burnt into her skin as her face squinted, and she bit her lip to keep from crying out. This went on for 10 minutes, before Phillips gave up and left, Smith in tow. Arthur turned to Ariadne, who was stiff in pain.

"Are you scared?" he asked her, his voice deep and almost comforting.

"No." she whispered. "I feel safest when I'm with you." This made Arthur smile.


	11. Chapter 11

"Bloody hell Cobb, let me drive."

Cobb ignored Eames's pleading tone, as he sped through the highway at around 90 mph. He knew that they would have to get there in the next hour, otherwise his friends would be gone. Gone into limbo. He felt guilty for this, he should have been there for his team when they were attacked in the dream, instead he let Arthur shoot him, leaving him all alone. Defenceless. This thought made Cobb speed up, throwing his body back into the seat.

"Listen, when we get there, find Arthur and Ariadne. I'll deal with Phillips."

Eames looked over to him, loading his gun.

"You sure about that?" Cobb nodded.

* * *

Yusuf looked over from his desk. 'Arthur' was staring at him in a way that made him feel very uncomfortable.

"Do they pay you enough to do this?" he asked. Yusuf gave him a confused look. He stood up from his desk, grabbing a gun for protection, and to establish his power in the situation.

"Not that it's any of your business but yes. They do."

"We could probably pay you more." Arthur growled. Yusuf muttered something in Swahili, then walked closer to Arthur.

"Just to clear things up, when it comes to a job like this, money isn't always the most important thing. loyalty and trust are too. These people are my friends." Without saying another word, Yusuf returned to his desk and continued with his work.

* * *

"Arthur, do you think they're going to arrive in time? " Ariadne asked.

"Yes. They're probably already here, talking things over with Phillips." Arthur gave her a fake smile. He didn't believe his own words. Neither did Ariadne.

"Ariadne?"

"Yeah?"

"…what's it like in limbo?" Ariadne gave him a look. She wasn't expecting that. She gave him a deep sigh, and looked at him.

"You told me it was raw, infinite subconscious. That's true. Everything is there, but at the same time, its full of emptiness. Time goes incredibly slowly and it's unstable enough to lose yourself and any moment. "

"But it's ok. Because we'd be there together. We wouldn't be lonely." he said. Ariadne gave him a look, that told him he was wrong, but he could believe it anyway.

* * *

Cobb and Eames pulled up to an empty building. It was in the middle of nowhere, and they sat in the car for several seconds before jumping out and grabbing the PASIV. Cobb knew that if there was any moment to be imaginative, now would be it. They were greeting by 2 men, about 3 times the size of them, who took them through a dark hallway. Eames looked at Cobb as if to say: we're screwed.

They were taken into a room, where they saw Phillips, Smith, Andrews and the Russian Chemist. No-one looked up at them, except Phillips. He gave them a frightening smile and stood up.

"Welcome. Did you bring the PASIV?" Cobb nodded and raised his left hand, which was holding the device. Phillips laughed. "Excellent. Give it here." Eames shook his head. Cobb took a step forward, handing Eames the PASIV.

"First of all." he said slowly. "Where are they?"


	12. Chapter 12

Arthur waited. He waited for the light. His eyes had slipped into darkness about half an hour ago. He could hear Ariadne's voice screaming at him to wake up. He could hear laughing. Cruel laughing. Someone had hit him over the head with something hard and blunt. He would not tell them were the warehouse was. He refused to put the others in danger. He had slipped into darkness, trying to escape. His head collapsed on to his shoulder. _Nothing._ He thought. _Nothing can break me. Cobb…were are you…_

"Arthur?…Arthur, pet can you hear me?"

He woke again. How long had he been asleep? He saw Eames and Cobb standing over him and Ariadne. They exchanged concerned looks. He felt disorientated and sick, but he smiled. He gave a small laugh, only to see Cobb's eyebrows raise and Eames roll his eyes.

"Eames?" he asked, a hoarse, quiet voice. Eames looked at Ariadne who shrugged her shoulders.

"Yes?"

"You were right…we are friends." _What? Why did I say that?_

"Bloody hell, they've drugged him."

"No, he's just a little dizzy." Arthur leaned over Eames shoes and threw up. Just to establish that they definitely were **not** friends.

"These are bloody Italian!"

"Eames shut up." Cobb bent over and leaned down to talk to Arthur.

"Arthur, do you know who I am?" Arthur nodded, feeling like he was going to throw up again.

"You're…Yusuf-no…Cobb!" Cobb nodded. He pointed to Ariadne. "and her?"

"Ariadne." Cobb smiled.

"Good."

A couple of minutes later, Arthur was fully functional.

"I'm sorry guys. We took longer than expected. We had to deal with…you." Cobb looked at Arthur. Just then, Phillips walked in, gun in tow. Cobb straightened.

"Ok, you've got what you wanted. Let them go." Phillips kept a straight face.

"You didn't think we were just going to let you walk out?" Cobb's eyes narrowed. "No, no, we need you do to something for us. We have an Inception coming up, and we need to do it for us." Cobb walked closer.

"You asked us to bring the PASIV. We did. We held up our end of the bargain, now you hold up yours." Phillips clicked his fingers and in one swift movement, 2 men walked in and grabbed Cobb and Eames by the shoulders. Eames flailed his arms, but Cobb looked at him and shook his head. There was no point in fighting now.

Eames and Cobb were soon tied down to chairs, in the same position as Arthur and Ariadne.

"Now listen…" Phillips said, as he pointed a gun towards Arthur's head. "Help us complete this Inception, or you're all dead by the end of the week. " He turned around and started walking towards the door, before turning around and saying "You have till tomorrow morning to decide."

As the door shut, Eames turned to his team members and gave a small, unconvincing laugh.

"Well…" he said. "At least Yusuf is alright."


	13. Chapter 13

The room was small and compact, so Arthur's screams of anger propelled off the walls and went straight back into the other's ears. Ariadne wanted to cover her ears, as his cursing and yelled scared her slightly. Eames would occasionally tell him to shut up, but he would only retaliate and start to insult Eames. Cobb just sighed and kept his anger quiet. The next hour went by and Arthur eventually grew quiet, and soon the whole team was in silence.

"We have no choice in this right?" Ariadne asked.

"No. I'm sorry." Cobb sighed. "I know none of you want to do Inception again. If this is our only way out then we have no choice." The hours went by and the light in the room was eventually switched off. It was pitch black and the only sound was the gentle breathing in the room. It must have been in the early hours in the morning when they heard footsteps approaching. Arthur grew stiff and the sound. This probably meant more torture. The door opened and the footsteps walked into the room. The light still didn't go on. The footsteps grew closer and eventually stopped.

"Cobb. Arthur. Long time no see." Arthur growled, and Cobb flicked his head around.

"Nash." The light switched on to reveal Nash, the former Architect, looking beat down and menacing. "It appears you're in a rather sticky situation." He walked closer and bent down to Arthur, who still hadn't changed his angry expression. "I bet you could really use my help." Arthur looked him directly in the eyes.

"Nash you asshole." Nash laughed and bent down so that his face was almost horizontal to Arthur's.

"I think you should have a little more respect for me now." He raised his hand and hit Arthur right across the jaw. "Unfortunately, this time, you'll be working for me. "

"Nash, you're better than this. You can help us. Please." Nash looked at Cobb.

"You treated me like dirt. You never gave me respect , and now you want me to help? Sorry, that's not the way I deal with things." Nash gave an evil smile then walked out of the room, leaving Arthur with a sore jaw and Cobb with an angry feeling.

"I'm sorry, I think I'm a bit left out, who is Nash?" Eames asked.

Cobb sighed. "He was our Architect before Ariadne. He wasn't particularly loyal, so he was taken to Cobal and we thought he'd been killed."

"He was a terrible Architect anyway." Arthur looked at Ariadne as he said this, who was staring at his probably broken jaw.

"Listen, the only way to do this is to get it done quickly and well. Then maybe they will let us go." Cobb grew quiet as he said this. Knowing that they would probably be killed, whether they did the Inception or not.

It was morning. No one had gotten any sleep during the long hours. They looked awful, and they were tired and hungry. Phillips walked in, accompanied by Nash. He looked angry and impatient. Less willing to wait.

"Enough. Are you going to help us?" Cobb nodded.

"Do we even have a choice?" Phillips did not answer. 4 men came in and untied the others and pulled them across the hall with unnecessary force. They were taken into a room were there were 4 desks, full of papers and folders. Everyone was taken to a desk and handcuffed to the chair.

"Get to work. Everything is in the folder."

They were left in silence. The only sound was the clinking of the chains against the chair as Ariadne tried to get free. She gave up after 5 minutes. Arthur sighed and turned around as far as he could.

"Let's just get this over with." he growled.


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry for the delay, but I'm going back to college tomorrow and I won't have time to do like 3 a day, so I will keep up and do at least 1 every night. Thanks a bunch for the reviews, defiantly make me write faster!**

**Disclaimer: Nothing good belongs to me, so this one belongs to Christopher Nolan.**

"Maybe Yusuf will realise that we're not coming back." Ariadne said. None of them had worked all day. 4 days had gone by, and they had poured all their energy into this job. Today, they sat around, just waiting for something, anything to happen.

"I don't know, he might have his hand's full with your twin." Eames looked over at Arthur, who did not look up from his work. Eames shrugged and stretched out, placing his legs on the table and his arms behind his neck.

"Eames, this is not vacation." Arthur said disapprovingly.

"Cheer up love, I'm just trying to the make the best out of a bad situation."

"There is no 'best', name one good thing about this situation."

"….well…..I'm here for you." Eames smiled a big goofy grin. Arthur shot him a look as if to say; don't-mess-with-me-or-I-will-kill-you. Arthur muttered something under his breath, and Eames knew that he had found his source of entertainment during this ordeal. They heard a slight scratching noise and looked over to Cobb, who was playing with this totem. Eames sighed and reached into his pocket, where he received his totem. Ariadne looked over, to see him playing with it, throwing it up into the air and catching it again.

"Eames, why did you pick a poker chip as your totem?" she asked, with genuine curiosity.

"Well it's not as if I'm a bloody born again Christian. I like to gamble. It just happened to be there. "

From outside, they could hear a car pulling up. Probably Phillips or Nash, Arthur thought, and he clenched his fists at the idea of that scumbag. He had not liked him from the first day they met, but they needed an architect for the Cobal job, and Nash, as Eames said, just happened to be there. He heard footsteps walking to the entrance of the abandoned warehouse, and exited talk. He recognised one of the voices, but could not put his finger on it. Suddenly, gunshots rang out from the hallway, so loud that Arthur had to cover his ears. He looked around to see the others standing up, trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening. A person ran through the door, a small person. A small person with a gun?

"Yusuf!" Cobb yelled out. Yusuf ran through the door, looking as out of breath as he ever had been.

"Quick!…" he panted "Back to the car, we don't have time!" Arthur's reflex was to run, run fast, run away from Nash and this warehouse and the Inception they were being forced to complete. His legs started working but his hand was handcuffed to the chair, holding him back. He looked up to see the same fear in Ariadne's, Eames's and Cobb's eyes.

"Crap!" he yelled, trying to rip his arm from the cuffs. Yusuf threw him a gun, and he gave him a confused look._What the hell am I supposed to do with this? _He looked at Yusuf who ducked behind the door, and 3 men walked in, armed with guns.

"Where is he?" they yelled. Arthur's instincts kicked in, raising his arm and shooting 2 of them in the head, while Eames, who had also received a gun from Yusuf, shot the other one in the chest. They fell onto the floor, undoubtedly dead. There was a moment of silence, but Yusuf sprung back from behind the door.

"Now! We have to go now before the others get here!" He aimed his shaky gun at Arthur's hand, and shot into the handcuffs, making them explode, realising Arthur. Arthur did the same to Ariadne and Cobb. After Eames was freed, Yusuf grabbed the PASIV from the corner of the room, with one quick movement. Within a couple of seconds, Arthur's legs had carried him from the hall to the car, everyone else in tow. He made sure everyone else was in before himself, and threw himself into the car. He looked into the driver's seat to see Eames grabbing the wheel.

"He's driving?" he yelled. No-one answered, and soon they were on the road, speeding at 90 mph, being pursuit by 2 other cars.

Arthur swung his arm out of the window, shooting at the tires of the first car, impressively, it hit and soon the car was being lifted into the air, and landed on the ground, smashing the glass. Arthur then aimed at the second car, which was serving, making it harder for him to hit. He aimed at the window, and hit it, smashing it into a thousand pieces, and stunning the driver. In this split second, Arthur aimed at the tires, sending it flipping and twisting itself into the road. Arthur looked out to make sure no-one else was following them. He sat back down in his seat, head counting to make sure no-one had been forgotten.

"Yusuf, where is the forger?" he coughed, reminding Arthur, that somewhere, was his twin. Yusuf took a couple of seconds to breath it out.

"I'm sorry, he got loose. Probably already back there." he said, motioning to where they had just escaped.

"Yusuf…" breathed Ariadne. "Thank you. That was very brave." Yusuf gave her a comforting smile as they sped down the road. Yes. Arthur was thinking. That was brave. Stupid and unplanned, completely irresponsible, but yes. Undeniably, indescribably, brave.


	15. Chapter 15

**As always, your reviews are much appreciated. Unfortunately, the next week will be a bit slow because I have college and coursework so I will do 1 a night.**

**Disclaimer: I own a dog. Not Inception.**

The doors swung open to the warehouse and Cobb walked in with his team, making sure to lock it behind them.

"Eames, take the PASIV to the back. Put it somewhere safe." He handed Eames the device and Eames gave him a nod before walking away. Yusuf collapsed onto a chair and rubbed his temples, panting as if he had just run a 50 mile race. Arthur grabbed Ariadne's arm.

"Are you alright?" he asked. She nodded at him, out of breath. Eames returned and sat down on a piece of garden furniture and dropped his gun.

"Well that was a bloody ordeal." No-one responded. Cobb stood up and reached into his pocket. He looked confused and checked his other pocket. He froze and slammed his fist down on the table. Everyone's head snapped up.

"They took my totem!" he yelled. Everyone else quickly reaching into their pockets. Ariadne stood up.

"Mine too." she whispered. Eames and Arthur had the same look in their eyes as they realised, no-one had a totem. Cobb started to walk out of the room.

"I have to call my kids." Arthur jumped up and grabbed his arm.

"Cobb, they've probably bugged our phones." he said. Cobb sighed and walked out of the room anyway. Arthur sighed and sat back down. Ariadne walked out of the room. Eames just looked at Arthur and sighed.

"How the hell do we know we're not dreaming?" Arthur shook his head.

"We don't. Just play it by chance."

Ariadne felt lost. She was still fairly new to this. Without her totem, she had no grasp on reality. They would be dreaming right now. She sighed and reached into her drawer. She pulled out the gun that Cobb had given to her. _If it's a dream, I'll wake up. _She thought this as she raised it to her head. She held it there. Was she prepared to take this risk? Her finger slowly edged closer to the trigger.

**Ahah! Cliffhanger! Short chapter I know, but I've been contemplating on where to go from here, so I'll add the next chapter tomorrow evening. Reviews are wonderful. Thanks for reading.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Reviews are amazing. They make me write faster for you guys! I really appreciate all the people that have given me good word about this, so this chapter is for you!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing-everything goes to Christopher Nolan.**

**Warning- fluff. **

"Ariadne!"

Ariadne swung round to see Arthur smacking the gun out of her hand. It landed on the floor with a thud. Arthur practically got face to her and yelled in her face. He grabbed her wrists.

"Why would you do that? Do you want to kill yourself?" he yelled. Ariadne could feel her eyes wetting, and she turned away to hide embarrassment. He took her face in his hands and turned her head to face his. "Ariadne, answer me."

"I…thought it would be a dream." Arthur sighed and leaned back in the chair.

"Ariadne…you can't just commit suicide every time you're in doubt." Ariadne wiped her eyes.

"Then how do I know?" Arthur leant forward, leaving only an inch between them. Their noses touched and Ariadne could hear his short, quiet breaths.

"Because I promised myself that I wouldn't kiss you again unless it was reality."

He placed his hand on the back of her neck and pushed it forward, forcing their lips to collide. Ariadne stopped breathing. She could hear his heart beat steadily and soft. She raised her hand and wrapped it around his neck, breaking any chance he had of escaping. She knew this was real. She could feel his warm breath in her mouth, and his warm, wet lips connecting with hers. He raised his other hand and wrapped it around her waist, shortening any distance between them. This moment last for what must have been a few minutes, and Ariadne pulled away. Arthur grabbed her shirt, pulling her lips to his for one last moment.

"Well. Arthur you never bloody kiss me like that."

Arthur's head shot round. Eames was standing there with his arms crossed and on his face was a big smile.

"Eames. Piss off." Eames held his hand up in defence.

"Don't shoot the messenger. Cobb wants us." he smiled and walked out of the room. Arthur stood up and straightened his shirt, and grabbed Ariadne's hand.

"Let's go." he smiled. Ariadne blushed and followed him out of the room.


	17. Chapter 17

**Thanks guys for the reviews! Keep em coming!**

**Disclaimer: Inception is owned by Christopher Nolan. Nothing that good would ever happen to me.**

They sat around the table in the middle of the warehouse. Waiting for someone to speak. Cobb cleared his throat.

"I don't know how we should go about doing this..." Yusuf looked up at him in confusion.

"Doing what?" he asked. Cobb looked up at him, with sympathy in his eyes.

"We can't just sit here, waiting for them to come and kill us. We'll be running forever if we try and escape." Eames tapped his fingers on the table. Annoying Arthur.

"You're saying we should get rid of them." he said. His face solid. Cobb nodded. It took Ariadne a minute to realise what they were talking about. They wanted to kill them. She was hesitant. A thief? Yes she was but...a cold blooded killer? Arthur sensed her judgement and squeezed her hand. He nodded to Cobb.

"It's best for everyone." he said. Eames placed his hands on the table.

"Right. What's the plan then?" Ariadne froze. Why were they so ready to do this? Obviously they had killed before, but she thought it was just projections. She remembered that she was sitting in a room full of criminals. She suddenly felt aprehensive.

"Wait. We're just gonna kill them?" she asked. The others froze, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"Ariadne, if you don't want to do this...it's fine." Arthur said.

"No...I want to. I'm part of the team as well Arthur." Arthur shrugged.

Eames looked up at Cobb.

"Right. So how are we going to do this?" Cobb sighed.

"They are expecting to come here right? So let's beat them to it. We'll ambush their warehouse. " Yusuf looked up after counting his finger tips.

"There are 8 men. 5 on the team and 2 at the front door and 1 at the back. There are also security cameras everywhere, so we'd have to be quick." Cobb looked down at Yusuf.

"Yusuf...you don't have to do this...you've helped enough." he said. Yusuf shook his head.

"I don't want to..." he said "...but I bloody well am." Cobb gave him a small smile and nodded his head in appreciation. Within half an hour, they had come up with a full plan. Arthur insisted that he would be the one to kill Nash. Cobb would have Phillips and Red, while Yusuf would have the man at the back door. Eames took the 2 at the front, while Ariadne had the Chemist. They looked into their weapon stash and loaded up. Ariadne's belt felt heavy with guns. There was that awful moment of waiting. Waiting until the early hours of the morning. Waiting for the right time. Waiting to go.


	18. Chapter 18

**I just want to thank you guys for reviews and reading. I've been really busy and it's nice to come home and see that you all have been reading!**

**Disclaimer: Christopher Nolan owns the wonder that is Inception.**

1:45

...

1:46.

This is what is has been like for 4 hours. Waiting to strike.

The van was ready, ready to drive back to the middle of nowhere.

Arthur was ready. Ready to kill. Ready to get Nash out of the picture.

Cobb was ready. Ready to end this. Ready to protect his team.

Eames was ready. Ready to fight. Ready to win.

Yusuf was ready. Ready to help. Ready to be part of something big.

Ariadne was not ready.

Cobb stood up and placed his gun in his back pocket.

"Let's go." he said. Barely a whisper. He grabbed his jacket. The rest followed, guns in tow.

They loaded into the van one-by-one. Yusuf did not want to drive. Apparently it had not gone so well last time. Cobb grabbed the wheel, and looked behind him. He wanted to check that everyone was in, one of his maternal instincts as a father. His grasp on the wheel tightened at the thought of his children. He started the van and started to drive. The van was creepily quiet. The only sound was Eames checking his gun for bullets.

Arthur thought it was akward. He wanted to make a noise, he wanted Cobb to turn the radio on or to roll down the window. It was half an hour of quiet, and as they approached the building, Cobb slowed down drastically and eventually rolled to a stop.

"Ok..." he said, slightly more confident. "Let's go."

**Short chapter I know! But tomorrow is the weekend and I wanted to spend my time working on the action chapter as I want it to be perfection. It will be worth the wait I promise...**


	19. Chapter 19

__

**Thank you guys for waiting. I've been working on this chapter for 2 days because I wanted it to be just perfect for you. I really hope you enjoy. And I apologise for the suffering you are about to endure.**

**Disclaimer: Christopher Nolan owns everything, I own nothing.**

"How long do we have to be here?" the man asked tiredly, letting his gun fall.

"All night. We have to be on guard all the time now because those scumbags escaped." the second man said. The other guard just sighed and rubbed his nose.

"You know...I could have been in a band-"

"Shut up...did you hear that?". The 2 men froze and quickly raised their guns. They both looked ahead and saw nothing. The first man shrugged his shoulders and relaxed. The second man, was not so ready to relax.

"Hello darlings."

The guard swung round to see his colleage being punched in the face with incredible force, knocking him out and forcing him onto the floor. He raised his gun to the attacker, and paused his finger. His face was met a millisecond later by a strong fist. His vision went fuzzy after being punched in the eyes, and he swayed, trying to see. His face was then met by another punch, knocking him onto the floor, eventually sending him into darkness.

* * *

Eames looked down at the 2 bodies on the floor, and kicked one of the arms. Feeling confident that they were both unconsious, he motioned to the white van in the road. After raising his arm and waving it about, he saw the others climb out of the van and run towards him. Cobb met his gaze, and without saying a word, he shot the 2 men in the head with a silencer. The only sound in the entire world to them, was the sound of crickets, and the occasional light flicker inside the run down warehouse. No-one spoke. Cobb motioned for Arthur to get the door. Eames looked down and noticed that Arthur and Ariadne's hands were connected. Arthur nodded and slowly realised her hand. He walked over the the heavy metal door. The raised his leg, and in one swift, hard movement, the door swung open. Arthur's hand shot out and grabbed the door just as it was about to hit the wall. Eames looked around to see everyone's shoulders were raised. Waiting for the loud bang. They relaxed when Arthur caught it. They filed in one-by-one, ready to kill. Eames looked down and he could swear, out of the corner of his eye...Arthur was shaking.

* * *

_I looked over at Eames, who's hand was gripped on his gun. It was gripped pretty tight. When I looked at Cobb, Arthur and Yusuf, who were doing the same thing. They were all scared, no doubt about it. I knew I was the only one to make it obvious. The gun felt heavy in my hands. I knew that it was going to be no comparison to the heaviness of the guilt that was about to come. I looked around the hallway. My back shivered remembering the tourture that I got when I was here last. The grey walls were peeling, and I could hear the flies buzzing in the air. Suddenly, I realised how much the warehouse in Paris felt like home. It wasn't nice, and it was not as comfortable as my apartment, but it was were I felt safe, and it was the place where I could find my...friends...anytime I needed them. I felt sick, suddenly realising, that I might never see it again._

_

* * *

_

_Cobb motioned for us to come closer to him. I looked behind me and saw Eames, Ariadne and Yusuf edge closer, waiting for his command. I had always admired the fact that if Cobb says jump, we say - how high? When I was younger and had just started working with him, I was jealous. He had charisma and power, something that I had lost. I soon grew to learn though, and he turned from an enemy, into an idol. Eames was playing with his gun, trying to act confident. Eames and I had...always had a disagreement with each other. He was too wild for me...too spontanious. Somehow...he grew to become part of my life, and when he wasn't around, the day was dull. I would never show it of course...but yeah...he was good at what he did. I saw Ariadne shaking. I wanted to grab her and kiss her. It meant a lot that she was here. She was brave. Far braver than any other Architect I had worked with. Everyday I saw her and my heart sped up. She had these little habits that would annoy me, but I also loved them. I realised a long time ago...that I was also in love with her._

* * *

_I have to be strong for my team. I have to protect them. I love them. They are my family. Family. James and Phillipa. God I wish I was with them. Just to see them...Stay with it Dom._

_Eames nodded. Gun at the ready, I kicked open the door to Phillips office. We ran in. It was too late to turn back now._

_

* * *

_

Phillips swung his head up at his door. Cobb walked in. Following him was his team. Phillips stood from his desk.

"Cobb. Nice to see you again. Please have a seat. " Cobb stayed were he was.

"We're not here to talk. I am going to kill you and this is going to end right here, right now." Cobb switched the safety of his gun off. Phillips laughed.

"Cobb. Put the gun down. If we fight, we are going to win..." he smiled. "I'm sure you're children will be sad to hear that their father was killed."

Cobb threw himself forward and with one swift movement, his gun shot a bullet that made a clean line with Phillip's chest. Phillips gasped and collapsed on the floor. They could hear the men from down the hall shouting. Arthur threw himself behind the door. Nash walked in and Arthur grabbed him by the throat. His nails dug into his skin, making it bleed. Arthur laughed into his face.

"Look's like I'm in charge now." he said, his voice evil. Nash struggled against his grip, gasping for air. Arthur punched him in the face, leaving his hands bloody. He fell to the floor, his mouth agape, sucking in oxygen. He looked into Arthur's eyes. Arthur's stone face looked straight back.

"Asshole." he said. He raised his gun and pulled the trigger. He had a straight shot into Nash's forehead. He stared at the blood, pouring out of this head. It felt...good. Arthur did not smile.

* * *

"Put the gun down sweetheart." Ariadne backed away from the big guy in front of her. She did not let her hand fall. "You don't know how to use that thing." She knew that it was now that she had to shoot. Questions were running through her head at 90 mph. Was this wrong? This man had a life, was she just going to end it? The man leapt forward, causing her to cry out. She pulled the trigger, and a shot ran straight from the gun into his stomach, causing him to fall on the floor in agony. She leant over and shot him again, this time, in the chest. He stopped moving. She had just killed someone. She was still. Reeling from the shock of what she just did. Blood surrounded his body, making her gag. She looked down at his dead body.

* * *

Yusuf panicked. The forger was running towards him, angry. He backed away, but remembered why he was there. He had hoped that because the man was guarding the back, he would not hear the noise, and he would not have to kill him. The man approached him and pulled his fist into the air. Yusuf smashed the barrel of his gun into the man's jaw, causing him to stagger. In this moment, Yusuf sent 5 bullets into the man, every one of them, hitting his body. The man fell on to the floor, leaving Yusuf staring, breathing heavily, relieved.

* * *

Cobb stared down at Phillips. He was gasping for air, clutching his chest. He looked up at Cobb and said nothing. Cobb bent down.

"I am not sorry. You caused this. I would do anything to protect my team." he whispered into the Phillips's face. He raised his gun to his head and pulled the trigger. Phillips collapsed onto the floor, blood surrounding his head. Cobb breathed.

"EAMES! NO!"

* * *

_I turned to Ariadne. She looked just as shocked as I was. I rarely go into the field. This is why. I never wanted to kill people. I don't beleive in violence. I'm just a chemist for christ's sake._

_I looked at Ariadne and nodded at her. I don't know why I did that. Probably for reassurance. I could still hear guns being shot, but my head, would not allow me to move. What I then heard, was something that would haunt me for the rest of my life...an ear spiltting cry. A broken voice, yelling._

"EAMES! NO!"

_

* * *

_

Yusuf looked at me and nodded. The sound of guns were hurting my ears. Why wasn't it over yet? I couldn't bring myself to look at anyone. The fear of someone being hurt was too big. I wanted to curl up and cry. I knew, that even though this was horrible and unmoral, it was all part of the job. I would be doing this for the rest of my life. I knew that it was somehow worth it. Dreams, were too big a gift.

"EAMES! NO!"

* * *

_After shooting Nash, I felt good. I completed a job that Cobal could not do. I could hear gunshots in the air. I don't know why I didn't turn around, but something inside me knew that we were winning. Nash's dead body even annoyed me. I turned around. Eames was one-on-one with Red, the Forger. I just stood there, watching. I could have done something. I could have helped. But no. I watched._

_I watched as Eames punched him in the face._

_I watched as Eames turned around to load his gun._

_I watched as Red raised his gun to Eames._

_I tried to yell, but my voice came out as nothing but a whisper._

_I watched...as Eames was shot in the chest._

_I raised my gun and shot the Forger in the head. I ran over to Eames, who was lying on the ground, choking on his own blood._

"EAMES! NO!"


	20. Chapter 20

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**Thank you guys for waiting. **

Shit. Big mistake. Why did I try and take down the forger? That was Cobb's job. It only took a second. Everything was going so well. I had him, I was getting in lots of punches. He was about to go down, all I need was my gun. I just turned to load it. That was it. That was all it took. I felt the sharp pain of the bullet in my chest. I couldn't work it out. Until I saw him standing there with his gun. I reached down to the hole in my chest. I tried to remove the bullet but the pain was too much. Everytime I felt my hand, the sharp sting came back. My shirt was turning red and it wasn't until I felt blood in my throught that I'd realised. He'd hit me in my liver. I tried to yell out but all that came out was blood. I fell onto the floor. I heard a shot, and I knew that someone had killed Red.

"EAMES! NO!"

The pain was getting worse. I couldn't move without feeling my insides collapsing. Pretty difficult not to move when you're shaking uncontrollably. I knew there was probably no way out of this. I'd messed it up.

_

* * *

_

Arthur fell onto the floor next to Eames.

"Shit." he muttered to himself.

He was soon joined by Cobb, Ariadne and Yusuf. Cobb was moving around examining his broken body. Ariadne was in tears, holding his hand. Yusuf was pale in the face.

"Arthur, give me your jacket." Arthur obeyed without saying a word. He stripped off his jacket and handed it to Cobb. Yusuf lifted up Eames's shirt, looking for the hole. Eames was soon pale and weak. It was an array of movement. The others trying to fix Eames.

"We need to get him into the van now." Cobb motioned for Arthur to help him lift Eames. Eames raised his hand.

"Cobb." he whispered. Cobb ignored him, trying to find someway to manover his body.

"Cobb. Stop." he pleaded.

"You're not going to die. Not now, not ever." Cobb said. It sounded more like he was telling himself this than telling Eames. Eames tugged on his sleeve. Cobb froze.

"Just let me go. It's over Cobb." Eames said this with a smile. Cobb shook his head furiously.

"No. No it's not Eames." Eames just laughed.

"Bloody stubborn you are." he said. He coughed furiously, blood erupttinng from his mouth in the process.

"Can I just say..." he weezed. "...I've never been so lucky...to work with a team like this." Cobb sat back. Yusuf looked down, knowing there was nothing he could do. Ariadne sat there staring at Eames, who had never looked so weak.

"Ariadne." he motioned for her hand. She held his hand tight.

"You're a great architect and a lovely person. I had rather hoped we'd have a little something between us. " he winked. Ariadne gave a small laugh.

"Thanks Eames." Eames turned to Yusuf.

"You're a good friend Yusuf, you've been very loyal to me. I just want to thank you for all you've done." Yusuf looked down, giving him a small nod, tears forming in his eyes.

"Cobb." Cobb looked down at him.

"I think you're possibly one of the greatest -" Cobb cut him off.

"Eames, I'm not the greatest extractor in the world. I can't even protect my- "

"I was going to say..." Eames sighed in frustration. "...I think you're possibly one of the greatest people...I have ever met. " Cobb smiled. Eames turned his head towards Arthur, who was shaking his head furiously.

"Arthur." Arthur looked up with angry eyes. Eames had a dissaproving look on his face.

"You are possibly the most boring, stick-in-the-mud, overly organised, annoying, un-imaginative, anal person in the world." Arthur said nothing.

"...but we're still friends." Eames smiled. Arthur smiled back. A genuine, honest to god, smile. Eames coughed up more blood.

"Can you do me a favour?" he asked Arthur.

"Of course." Arthur whispered.

"Can you out me out of my misery?" he asked, handing Arthur his gun. Arthur froze. He looked at the others, who avoided eye contact. He looked back down at Eames, who was groaning in pain. He nodded his head. He stood up and backed away. The others moved away. Arthur slowly rose his gun to Eames's head. His hand was shaking. Eames gave him an appreciative smile.

"Well hold it bloody straight. God it's like getting a child to do the job." Arthur smiled. He pulled the trigger. Eames was gone.

I warehouse was quiet. The only noise was the shifting of feet. Cobb looked around. They were surrounded by bodies. People they had killed.

"Let's go." he said.

* * *

_I wanted to say "No. We need to take Eames with us.", but I couldn't bring myself to say his name. Yusuf followed Cobb out, wiping his face furiously with his sleeve. I felt something touch my hand. I looked down to see Arthur's fingers wrapped around mine. He had just shot Eames. I could not imagine what he was feeling. I couldn't believe that Eames was dead. We had lost someone. I felt warm tears on my cheeks. Eames was the person who brought the laughter to this job. He came in everyday and made jokes and made everyone smile. Now he was gone. Just wiped from existance. I didn't even know if he had family. Someone waiting for him. _

_Arthur led me from the room, trying to get me to not look back. I just had to turn to see Eames one last time. My eyes wondered from Eames's body to Phillips's desk. It was there I saw something. No, more than something. I let go of Arthur's hand and walked to the desk._

_"Ariadne?" he asked. I ignored him, and I could hear Cobb and Yusuf returning to see our delay. I walked over to the desk. It was there, perfectly arranged, that I saw a bishop, a loaded die and a spinning top. I grabbed the objects, and returned to the others. I handed Cobb and Arthur their totems, and they grabbed them as if it was water in a dessert. I returned my hand into Arthur's, and we walked back to the van, with one less person, and a grasp on reality._

* * *

_ We got back into the van, myself and Cobb in the front, and Ariadne and Yusuf in the back. It was quiet, and I could not escape the feeling of guilt, knawing at the back of my head._

__I was glad to have my totem back. It's amazing how out of place you feel when you don't have it. I squeezed the loaded die in my hand and threw it on to the dashboard.

...4. What? No...that wasn't right. I shook it again, with more force and threw in on the dashboard again.

...2. No.

...1.

...5.

...6.

No. No it can't be. The loaded die, the one that always landed on 6...was landing on different numbers. This meant...

I looked over at Cobb who had his eyes on the road.

"Cobb." I said. I couldn't be right, I just couldn't.

"Yeah?"

"Check your totem." He gave me a quick, confused look.

"What? Arthur...I'm driving-"

"CHECK YOUR TOTEM NOW!" I don't now why I yelled. I panicked, the one thing that I was always certain about was now confusing me. Cobb drew the car into a sudden stop, forcing me to put my hands out for safety. Cobb grabbed his totem in his pocket. He thew it onto the dashboard, and it spun. Spinning...spinning. It must have been about 5 minutes before Cobb grabbed it and threw his head behind him. I looked back and Ariadne was checking her totem. I'm assuming the tipping point was wrong because she looked at me with what only can be described as...shock.

"We're dreaming."


	21. Chapter 21

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**Thank you guys for waiting. Sorry for the delay.**

I didn't really understand. At what point had we gone under? When Arthur told me to check my totem, I was just humouring him. There was no way we could be dreaming.

Did this mean Eames was alive? Was he in reality waiting for us? We sat in the car for what must have been half an hour, until Arthur turned to me.

"What should we do?" I knew there was only one thing we could do. One thing to break the bond between dreams and reality. I turned to Arthur and he just shook his head.

"You can't possibly expect us to kill ourselves. It's too unsure."

"Arthur...we could be dreaming right now. We just need someone to test it."

"You want someone to kill themselves...just to test it?" he asked, almost spitting the words out. I knew it was a risk, but there was nothing else to do about it.

"I'll do it." said a small voice from behind. Arthur and I turned around to see Ariadne with her hand raised. Yusuf had the same expression as us. Arthur shook his head furiously.

"No." he said, matter-of-factly.

"I want to try. Eames might be up there."

"Ariadne, what if this isn't a dream? You might die!" Arthur said, angrily. I knew it was incredibly stupid, but we needed someone to try it and Ariadne was offering.

"Ok...if you're sure." I said. Arthur shot me a look that said- how-dare-you-say-that.

"Ok." she said. I handed her my gun, after cheaking it was fully loaded. Arthur looked away. Ariadne raised the gun to her head, and Yusuf covered his ears and turned away. I held up my hand to stop her.

"Ariadne. ...If...you get up there, give us a kick." She nodded her head and smiled. I mouthed the words -thank you.

Her finger pulled the trigger and soon, there was silence in the car. I didn't look behind me. Nor did Arthur. All I could hear was Yusuf muttering "bloody hell."

_

* * *

_

_I sat up gasping for air. My hand flew to my throat and soon I was hyperventilatying. I looked around me and saw my surroundings. We were in the warehouse. I had never been so glad to see this place. I swung my head to the side and saw Cobb, Arthur and Yusuf sleeping peacefully, their bodies not moving. Eames._

_I ripped the needle out of my wrist and jumped out of the garden chair. My hand flew to my head, instintly regretting getting up too fast. _

_"Eames?" I yelled out. My voice echoed around the warehouse and I could feel my heart drop. It was only until I heard footsteps that I turned around._

_"Took you bloody long enough." _

_Eames. There he was, standing in the doorway, wearing a smirk that made me want to punch him in the face. Instead, I ran over to him, throwing my arms around him. I could feel him tense, then relax and hug me back. I looked at his chest for blood, but no. It was clean and Eames was fine. I backed away and smiled at him._

_"Hi Eames." I said. He walked over to the garden chairs and kicked Arthur's leg with his shoe. _

_"Why are they taking so long?"_

_"We didn't know whether it was a dream or not." Eames looked at me dissaprovingly. _

_"So they sent you to test it?" I shook my head._

_"No, I offered." _

_"Ahh." he said. "Well I guess we better wake them up." As soon as he finished his sentence, he tipped over Arthur's chair, then Cobb's, and finally Yusuf's. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen. 3 fully grown men scream like little girls as they hit the floor. Eames bent down to a clearly dissorientated Arthur and yelled into his ear._

_"ABOUT TIME YOU WOKE UP!" Arthur fell back hitting his head, out of shock. I laughed and ran over to him and offered him my hand. He looked up to me and smiled._

_"Ariadne!" he shouted, happily. He jumped up and pushed his lips onto mine. Eames wolf whistled behind us, but it was compleatly ignored. After we parted, Arthur looked down at me and laughed. He grabbed my hand and pulled me over to Cobb and Yusuf, who were laughing on the floor. _

_"We must have forgotten we were under when they stole our totems." Cobb said. _

_"So we didn't kill them?" Arthur asked, still smiling. Cobb jumped up and took his shoulders. _

_"No. We didn't. Who cares? We're in reality now!" Cobb said._

_

* * *

_

It wasn't over. Not by a long shot. But Eames was alive and we were awake. We sat in that warehouse all night, talking and laughing. Something we hadn't done for a long time. We would get more jobs, sure. We would work together, and Ariadne would design a brilliant world, Yusuf would make the right compounds, Eames would forge the right people and Arthur would get the right research... It would all go fine. And until we ran into any trouble, it was just us and the dream world. The perfect match.


	22. Author's note

**It's all over for now, but I really appreciate you guys with all the reviews and encouragment. It's my first real story, so I'm really glad with how it turned out!**

**I'm hoping to do a sequal, but only if you want me to! Let me know, and let me know how you want it to be.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Inception, because I am not Christopher Nolan.**


	23. SEQUEL NOTICE!

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INCEPTION.**

**Greetings readers!**

**The new chapter of 'After the End' (otherwise known as A Simple Extraction Part 2) is up!**

**Summary: **

**A year later, Cobb is retired with his children. Arthur and Ariadne are engaged, Eames and Yusuf are living happily. They are offered a simple job, something that Cobb can use as a farewell to dreaming. Things become strange, and soon the team will come to a terrifying realisation.**

**Enjoy!**


	24. SEQUAL IS UP

**DISCLAIMER: Christopher Nolan owns Inception.**

**ATTENTION READERS!**

**NEW STORY 'AFTER THE END' IS UP!**

**Expect drama, fluff, angst and action as the team are reunited for one more job. Cobb is retired, Eames and Yusuf are living comfortably, while Arthur and Ariadne are engaged.**

**Unfortunatly, the situation is far more horrifying than they could have pictured.**

**THE FIRST 2 CHAPTERS ARE UP!**

**Please read and review, as I'm going to devote a lot into this story. I'll try and make it as special as I can for you.**

**Thanks!**


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